Long Distance Archives - 2000

(Workout of 12/28/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Warmup jog eastwards through the 72nd Street transverse, turn north up Cat Hill, turn left to go across the Delacorte Oval to emerge at West Drive by the Delacorte Theater, head south to the Daniel Webster statue to complete the one mile warmup.  First pickup in good sprint form goes from West 72nd Street uphill to Tavern on the Green.  Recover to the 'S' sign and run the Stuart mile at moderate pace to finish at East 72nd Street.  Recover to the boat house.  Run up Cat Hill in good sprint form to reach the top and then some more on the left right by the statue of the King of Poland.  Recover across Delacorte Oval to emerge at West Drive by the Delacorte Theater.  Head south to the Daniel Webster statue at moderate pace to complete the 2.7 mile loop.  Now repeat the same 2.7 mile loop.  The total distance of the workout is 2 x 2.7 miles + 1 mile = 6.4 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Twenty degrees, with wind gusts from the northwest (read: Canada).  Nineteen people present at the start.  We got beat in numbers by the temperature.  This is surely the saddest night of the year ... NOT!
• Why do people want to come out and run on this cold night?  Here is one perspective: "I want to see Jerome O'Shaughnessy (or Alan Ruben) in shorts tonight" which would end up in disappointment as the two named persons did not show.  Someone else explained, "It's not cold enough tonight for Jerome."  The historian puts this in perspective, "Ten years ago, on a night like this, Jeff Johnson would have showed up topless ..."
• How do you stay warm if you arrive early?  The easy answer is, "Why show up at all?"  But if you are Rob Zand, you would be running little loops around the statue.  To get the workout going, the group had to form a human blockade to stop him.
• By Cat Hill, our group acquired the late arriving Audrey Kingsley, so at least we tied the temperature.  Why was she late?  Here is one perspective, "You want to get your own personal write-up in the workout description!"  In her defense, since she did not make the final cut for the TOP 10 FAVORITE PHOTOS OF THE YEAR, she probably appreciates any mentions that she can get.
• For those of you who read the Tuesday workout notes, you would know that Stuart Calderwood was going to be the substitute coach tonight.  When Stuart showed up, he looked around and said, "Fewer than ten people!  This is the worst attendance record for the year!"  Not to fear, because we are dealing with a bunch of people who have been conditioned to show up late.  Indeed people kept coming.
• Early on, one suggestion was that the early warning note posted on the website "scared people away because they did not want to be tortured by Stuart."  That is quite unfair, because a Stuart Calderwood workout is always revelatory.  To wit, everybody would hate to think that they were not there as eyewitnesses and have to read the witless description on the website.  Oh, by the way, even if you were AWOL, you can still catch up on the Cultural Lesson of the Day at Famous Saying #1210.
• As a reminder, you better bring a photo for your Armory ID if you have not already done so.  They won't let you in otherwise, and it would be a very sad start for the year to schlepp all the away up there just to be turned away at the door.

(REPORT ON 12/26/2001 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 3 x (200m, 50m jog)

• 8 x (600m, 200m jog)

FIELD NOTES:

• This is Boxing Day, the traditional Canadian holiday (you know, they're always behind ...).  There were only eighteen people at the workout.  It is okay to take some time off, you know.  Really.  Especially given how cold it was on Christmas Day ...

• Is your coach Tony Ruiz training hard to get ready for his Masters debut?  You better believe it.  He said, "I even went out running last night.  With the windchill, it must have been twenty degrees below zero.  And I did not have any headwear.  It was unbelievable."  To which Rob Zand was quite unsympathetic, since it had been even colder in Cleveland ...

• When there are fewer than the normal number, there were in fact just three groups.  Arthur Cooke took a look at the group compositions and opted to run with the slowest group.  Afterwards, he held reception at the end of the hall to talk to all the people who independently told him that he should have been running with the next group.  It would be hard for him not to get the message ...

• Your coach took a look at Isaya Okwiya standing near our group and said, "You are going to be our timer, won't you?  We don't have anyone else."  That is called 'an offer that cannot be refused.'

• Your coach took a look at Stuart Calderwood and said, "There will be a workout on Thursday in the park too.  Stuart, are you going to be there?"  Upon getting an affirmative answer, your coach said, "Stuart is going to be  your coach on Thursday, even though he just found out right at this moment."  That really does give us a lot to look forward to ... what surprise awaits us?

(Workout of 12/21/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• This is an out-and-back tempo run.  The course is north to West 102nd Street, cross the transverse, south down the east side to Cleopatra's Needle and then back.  The 'back' portion should be faster than the 'out' portion --- for those who have never heard of that, this means 'negative split.'  The total distance of the workout is 6.5 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Thirty-four people showed up at the workout today.  There was a visitor all the way from Arizona (John Prather), finding us over the Internet.  We apologise that the lighting does not do this park justice at this time of the year.  As a reminder to all our readers (team members and others), our road workouts are open to all comers (especially if they speak French).
• When coach Tony Ruiz did not materialize, Audrey Kingsley was called to the front and made this address: "Your coach isn't here now.  Since I am seventeenth in command, it looks like as if I might have to give the workout.  (aside:  John Kenney had better show up fast.)  Today, we're going to do the hill workout.  (crowd hisses).  So we are going to run north ... oh, Stuart (Calderwood) is here.  He can take over."  Stuart: "Take over what?  Tony has just arrived."  After Tony gives out the real workout, he added, "I was thinking about giving the hill workout, but I thought it was too cold tonight for that."  After Tony said that, Audrey added, "After I gave the hill workout, I thought it may be too cold tonight for that."
• Stacy Creamer continues to ask if anyone has picked up her favorite Nike racing flats left behind at the Armory after the Tuesday workout.  As other owners of these made-for-Japan Nike Air Streak Lite shoes (e.g. Toby Tanser and Roland Soong) will attest, these racing flats are the best shoes ever, and they don't make them anymore.  So please e-mail escream@aol.com if you have any info.
• Charging out in front of the workout were Dave Howard and Steve Eick?  What was the hurry?  Maybe they knew that the strong alpha-male group of Rob Zand, Richie Borrero, Stuart Calderwood and Alan Ruben would be coming up soon.
• New York City track and field athletes and friends are invited to the dinner on Friday, December 22nd, at Kate's Corner, Avenue B & 4th Street (#58).  Call Frank Schiro at (212) 260-3141 for info.
• Next week is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  All workouts will take place as usual --- Tuesday at the Armory and Thursday in the park.  Notice that we did not say 'Tuesday at the track' because some of you may show up at East River Park instead!

(REPORT ON 12/19/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 3 x (200m, 50m jog)

• 1 mile, 600m recovery

• 1 mile, 600m, recovery

• 1000m, 400m recovery

• 3 x (300m, 100m recovery)

FIELD NOTES:

• 26 people at the workout today.  First time at the indoor track workout was Rob Zand.

• The first mile of the workout should be done at racing pace for a 4 miler.  The second mile of the workout is the key item, to be done at 5K racing pace.  The next 1000m should be at the same 5K race pace, but it is a lot easier now.  The last 300m's are for your finishing speed (which should not be faster than Michael Johnson).

• Over the weekend, the women's team of Stacy Creamer, Kellie Quinones and Irene Jackson-Schon won the Holiday Classic race in the rain storm in the park.  Please note that the average age of this winning team is 44 years old.  But this is still not the oldest winning team yet, as we definitely remembered that a 50-year-old-average team with Fritz Mueller once won the 20 miler over a 19-year-old-average team from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

• Brian Barry said, "Someone told me last week that world record marathoner Khalid Khannouchi was training in the buildling . I thought that they were joking, but it was true.  Is he here today?"  Sorry, better luck next time.

• The Frenchman from the other team asked, "Why are you wearing a hat?  Is the sun too strong inside the building at night?"  Answer: "This is the anti-photographer device."

• Even though next week is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, our workouts will continue --- Tuesday at the Armory and Thursday in the park.  It is okay for people to skip the workouts this week.  Really, we mean it ...

(Workout of 12/14/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• The purpose of this workout is to hone your finishing kick.  "What kick?" is undoubtedly your first reaction.  
• Therefore, the first order of business was a set of sprint drills at the the Literary Walk just in front of the Bandshell.  Each set of drills consist of going out and back for about 30 meters, covering the 'butt kick', 'quick little steps', 'high knee lifts', 'bounds', etc.  After doing the individual drills, the big test is 'How do you put all the components together at the same time?'  We are happy to report nobody fell over ...
• The road workout itself began at the corner of East 72nd Street and consists of an out-and-back run to West 102nd Street and back, and then completing the lower loop for a total of 5.7 miles excluding the speed drills.  Within the road workout, there are three one-mile pickups: East 72nd to East 90th, West 102nd to West 90th, East 72nd to Tavern On The Green.  Each of the one-mile pickup is divided into four quarters, with these pace --- easy, moderate, fast and then using your newly acquired kick.

FIELD NOTES:

• Twenty-five people showed up today.  Twenty-four of them were astonished by this workout.  Overheard from a veteran to a newcomer: "I've been with this club for twelve years, and this is the first time something like this has happened.  Please do not regard this as the norm."  By the way, you can blame it all on Stuart Calderwood ...
• Postscript:  After the workout, at least six people went up to Stuart Calderwood and personally thanked him for the drills.  Perhaps we should be doing more of this ... ?

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE ARMORY

Spotted on the GPS system was Titanium Tanser training with Khalid Khannouchi on Thursday at the Armory.  In 1997 they trained together on the track in Albuquerque.  Running a set of 1000's + 200's Khalid wacked Toby on the longer stuff but Titanium held his own on the 200's.  Khalid explains with a wry smile, "It is Ramadan, I am weak."

(REPORT ON 12/12/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 3 x (200m, 50m jog)

• 1200m, 400m jog

• 800m, 200m jog

• 400m, 200m jog

• 400m, 200m jog

• 800m, 400m jog

• 1200m

FIELD NOTES:

• 25 people at the workout today.  Season debut for David Pullman, Stephanie Gould, Audrey Kingsley and Ana Echeverri, among others.  Ana's parting words today were, "I'll be back!"  And for some of those for whom this was their second time on this track, you're all looking a lot smoother ...

• Whereas there was an artic blast coming through the windows last week, the place was hotter than an oven this week.  Can we settle for something in between?

• In going over the weekend's race results, the coach read off the times: "Audrey Kingsley --- 40:10.  Was that a PR?"  The answer was quickly supplied by Stuart Calderwood: "No!  39:22."  This caused Audrey to say, "Now I know that at least somebody cared ..."  That is, apart from her extended family members who are quite versed in using Google.com to search for her famous sayings.

• In case you weren't there and/or didn't realize, world marathon record holder Khalid Khannouchi was training in the late session.

• This Saturday is the annual club awards party.  If you can do so at all, could you please come down a couple of hours earlier to help decorate the place?  This is an EMERGENCY appeal!!!

(Workout of 12/7/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• This is an out-and-back workout.  Start from the Daniel Webster statue, head north all the way around the northern hills and come back down the east side to E90th Street.  Turn around and re-trace your route.  Where are the pickups?  Whenever you are going uphill, of course.  The total distance of the workout is 7.5 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• This is just two days before the final scoring race of the year, the Joe Kleinerman 10K.  There were 26 people present at the workout.  
• As for the significance of this race, Stuart Calderwood's analysis indicated that it is highly unlikely that our positions in the various divisions will change.  In the case of our Masters Men, we have an 8 point lead and we need to finish no worse than sixth in order to claim first place.
• This day was the first workout for Shelley Farmer after the New York City Marathon.   She has a piece of good news.  If you recall, she was seventh at the USAT National Age Group Championships earlier this year, and just missed qualifying as a US representative to the World Championships.  Although there will be another race for another six slots, she has just been notified that one of the previous six qualifiers will be in the next age group when the World Championships come and so Shelley is now on the team.  So maybe she can concentrate on Boston now ... ?
• Since there were still cars in the park, the bicyclists were --- it must be shocking to learn --- racing in the bicycle paths.  So please stay to the runner's lane on the inside of the road.  In addition to menaces on wheels, we would also urge you to pay attention to menacing runners.  On this evening, our membership secretary got into a shuffling match with some runner who wouldn't yield the right of way simply because he speaks with a French accent.  We tried calling for police assistance, but they must have been too busy enforcing the public urination ordinance.  This was not the first time that this confrontation occurred, although the last time the other party menaced our membership secretary from a bike.
• The preceding incidence was also witnessed by two non-runners running nearby --- Ross Galitsky and Aubin Sullivan.  When asked if they had signed up for the indoor track season, both gave rather hysterical responses as if this was the funniest thing that they have ever heard.
• Craig Chilton asked, "How come our web page reverted to the page on Thanksgiving  --- you know, the one with John Kenney and Sylvie Kimché on the cover photo?"  How come, indeed?  In fact, we couldn't produce that page for you even if we wanted to since our pages are continuously updated and replaced and the preceding ones are not preserved.   Actually, if we could go back to that day, we would have dumped our World Com stocks ...
• For those who don't know, one of the 'new' faces today was Joe Voyticky who ran with us the mid-1990's, having led our New York City Marathon to a second-place finish in 1994.  That year, our leaders in the marathon were Joe Voyticky (2:34:20 PR), Fred Schuler (2:35:58, moving on to Chicago later), Peter Allen (2:37:49, and then again 2:38:00 in year 2000), Andreas Nolte (2:38:11, moving on to Vermont later), and the 37-year-old Alan Ruben (2:39:11, moving on to become faster).  Today, Joe said, "I am not going to lead the team at the marathon this year."

(REPORT ON 12/5/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 3 x (200m, 50m jog)

• 6 x (800m, 400m jog)

FIELD NOTES:

Tom Phillips

• This was our season debut at the Armory Track, with a turnout of 31 people in our group.  As always, we have a few people who have never been to this facility.  Some of these people are new members, but there was one person who was an old member --- Tom Phillips, our legendary ironhorse who ran every winter race in the late 1980's.  In fact, he was with us so long ago that only Sid Howard, John Kenney, Stuart Calderwood, Tony Ruiz and Roland Soong knew who he was.  But he is still young enough to have just turned 45 and to run the last 800m in 2:28.

• The photo IDs were waiting downstairs for pickup at the sign-in desk.  Just in case you were one of the few people who had trouble, please remember to send an e-mail to John Kenney ( John.Kenney@wcom.com ).

• Since this was the first workout this year, the theme of this workout is 'control.'  This is a banked track that may feel significantly different from either the roads or the outdoor track, and the air circulation inside the building is muy malo.  So everybody was advised to listen to their bodies and to watch their steps carefully.

• Someone told Kim Mannen, "On one hand, we missed not seeing you at the roads for a while.  On the other hand, this meant that you must have been working out hard at the Armory on your true calling as a middle-distance runner."  After her own workout, she was observed timing us, not to call out splits and to see where she would have been ...

Toby Tanser

• Also at the workout was Toby Tanser, who did an early morning workout, a noon workout, our early session workout and also our late session workout.  He must have already gotten his money's worth from the Armory.  After winning twice this past weekend, Toby has chalked up 18 wins this year, still behind the 23 by the rest of the team.  He says, "Wait till next year!  I did not race this January."  Shall we start sending our triathletes out to snowshoe races ... ?

• Where did that canary come from ... ?

(Workout of 11/30/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Warmup from the Daniel Webster statue up to West 84th Street where we stopped and re-grouped.  The first long set is a two mile run into the northern section of the park at 10 mile race pace (the one mile is right at West 102nd Street and the two mile ends at the traffic light just 0.14 miles before the east side of the 102nd Street transverse.  Recovery is westwards through the transverse and then northwards to the top of Harlem Hill.  The second long set is another two mile run (at 10K race pace) eastwards and then south all the way down to the William Hamilton statue on East 84th Street facing the Metropolitan Museum.  Jog back to the statue from this point.  The total distance is 6.3 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• There were twenty-nine people at the start of the workout.  Roger Liberman looked around and said, "I just realized that I have been the only French speaker at the post-marathon workouts."  For the record, there were many more Canadians (Craig Chilton, Lauren Eckhart and Alayne Adams, for three) on this day.
• Please bear in mind that the Tuesday workouts will move indoors beginning next week.  Your photo ID's will be waiting for you at the security desk of the Armory at that time.  Don't know how to get there?  Read the Directions to the Armory.  Of course, we meet in Central Park on Thursdays at 7pm, now and forever.
• When we re-grouped at East 84th Street, the coach changed his usual schema by releasing the "A" team first.  This meant that they were fully warmed up and ready to go, and indeed we saw a freight train (Erik Goetze-Michael Rymer-Stuart Calderwood-Craig Chilton) charging out on a breakaway ...
• For the statistic fans, we note that Stuart Calderwood and Stacy Creamer's wins in Philadelphia this weekend make 38 individual road race victories for the team.  Of course, you are surely more interested in this other statistic --- yes, it is true that the rest of the team beat out Toby Tanser in terms of total victories.  But of course he could still take over the lead by winning another six more races in December and we wouldn't count him out yet.

COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT:

• You note the finishing point of the second 2-mile pickup of last Thursday's workout (November 30th) as 'the statue of William Hamilton.'  Your usual frighteningly thorough and accurate reportage gave me pause here: could I have been referring mistakenly to this work for twenty years?  But no; my research shows that the statue just off the East Drive near 83rd Street, sculpted in granite by Carl Conrads in 1880 after having been commissioned by the son of the statue's subject, is indeed a likeness of Alexander Hamilton, immortalized now despite his zero-and-one record in pistol duels.
   
  --Stuart "Freight Train" Calderwood
    
• As always, Stuart Calderwood is meticulously accurate about the facts.  For those with infinitely good memory, this particular statue is a blind spot in the history of the Central Park Track Club.  You have no idea what we mean?  Shame on you!  Check out this page!  

(REPORT ON 11/28/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Three laps around the reservoir.  Upon entering the reservoir path at West 86th Street, warm up by running five lampposts hard, three easy and another five lampposts fast.  The first long pickup is 800m from East 90th Street to the northern pumphouse.  Recover for 400m to West 91st Street.  The second long pickup is 1300m all the way to East 90th Street.  Recover for 800m to the northern pumpouse.  Third pick up is 800m to West 86th Street.  Recover to southern pumphouse.  Fourth and final pick is 1200m to the northern pumphouse.  Recover to West 86th Street.  At this point, you can stand around and chat for a few minutes on this fair night.  Then the real workout begins with an all-out sprint to West 72nd Street (Blair Boyer said, "That was done at my race pace!") ...  Total distance was 6.4 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Thirty-one people were present on this last Tuesday night in the park this year.  Next Tuesday, we will be indoors.  For those who have paid the user fee already, you can go and pick up your photo ID at the front desk of the Armory next Tuesday. Theoretically, our allotted time period is between 800pm and 930pm, although they may let us in just after 745pm to get changed and warmed up.  If you had sent in your check without a photo, then you better bring a passport-size photo at that time.  If you are interested but have not signed up yet, please contact John.Kenney@wcom.co.  On this subject, we are happy to report that Audrey Kingsley has signed up again this year, in spite of some initial reservations.  She said, "How can I go through a whole winter without speed work?"  And what about you?

• Overheard on the sideline (by accident, of course) --- Michael Garland said, "I ran my first race in about two years over Thanksgiving.  Believe me, the results for this 5 mile race (the Stuffed Turkey Run in Purchase, NY) are not published on the Internet.  I ran 30:40, but what I am most proud of is the fact that I was only thirty seconds behind Rich Joseph."  After reading the above, Michael added, "Thank you for making me 10 seconds faster than my actual time."

• Also back with a vengeance --- Erik Goetze, running faster than a speeding bullet today ...

•  More than three weeks after the marathon, we are finally seeing some of the marathoners back (excusing those who don't need any recovery time, such as Alan Ruben, Stuart Calderwood and Audrey Kingsley).  Today, coach Tony Ruiz gave special praise to Margaret Angell, not just for her 3:00:16 PR, but for the marvelous accomplishment of actually taking time off since.  Having just missed dipping under 3 hours, Margaret said, "I could think of one or two moments along the race when I could have saved some seconds" and "I've signed up for the London Marathon next year --- it's a completely flat course."  Hearing that, Sid Howard said, "Oh, you can go visit Alan Ruben's father when you are over there.  His name is Sidney Ruben.  He came to watch us at the world indoor championships in Birmingham three years ago."

• On the negative side, coach Tony Ruiz chided Margaret Angell for not wearing the orange color during the marathon which meant that nobody saw her (see Photo of the Margaret Angell-Stephanie Gould duo).  In her own defense, Margaret said, "No, no, no.  The reason that you did not see me was that I was right behind Ramon Bermo.  When you guys saw him carrying the flag of Spain, you all went crazy and completely ignored me."  Is that so?  In the instant replay (see Photo), Margaret Angell is still out of sight and out of mind ...

• Sitting on the wall at the top of the stairs at East 90th Street were two of our favorite hecklers (Shelley Farmer and James Siegel).  Hmm ... Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall ...

• Just so you don't think that you are the only people who can run fast in the park, we saw Raphael Devalle and Devon Sargent flying around the reservoir and down the west side ...  P.S.  When we recently remarked that the legendary Devon Sargent had finally ran a cross-country race for the Central Park Track Club, she said, "You mean, the infamous Devon Sargent?"  Whatever you want to call yourself is fine with us --- we just want you to win, okay?

• You should have received a mailed invitation to the annual club party.  If you are so new that you have not made it on the roster yet, or if you have just committed the cardinal sin of moving without informing the membership secretary, or if you haven't paid your dues yet but believe that moment is imminent, or if you plain just wanna come, Eve Kaplan will be bringing more invitation cards to the Thursday workouts, or you can email her at evedkap@hotmail.com too.

(Workout of 11/23/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• On Thanksgiving evening, Daniel Webster was left by his lonesome self ... 

(REPORT ON 11/21/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Three laps around the reservoir.  On lap #1, the long pick up is the mile from East 90th Street back to the starting point at West 86th Street.  On lap #2, the long pick up is from the southern pumphouse to the northern pumphouse (approximately 1200m), recover to West 90th Street, and sprint 400m to West 86th Street.  On lap #3, there are six sets of (5 lampposts jog (for everyone else other than Sid Howard), 10 lampposts fast).  And don't stand around in the cold afterwards, which of course we all did (except Alan Ruben).

FIELD NOTES:

• Coldest night of the year so far.  Even Canadian Alayne Adams asked after the workout, "Can we run home right now?  I am cold!!!"   Of course, she did not leave and stood around chatting instead.
• The turnout was twenty-one people, matching the lowest total this year.  This count included Stacy Creamer, who showed up and then promptly disappeared.  But the count did not include Michele Tagliati, who was not at the start, but chased down the group after 0.9 miles with these words: "I think I've done my workout already  (huff huff puff puff)."  So this was a fair and accurate count, unlike the one in Palm Beach county, Florida.
• In reviewing the national cross-country championship results, it was pointed out that our fifth Men 40-49 scorer was John Megaw, who made this race his cross-country debut.  This led to comments like, "John, did you wonder where the bike transition area was?"  Our highest placed individual finishers were Stacy Creamer and Alston Brown, both in fourth place in their respective divisions.  Our spotter said that Alston Brown was in fact leading his race after 1-1/2 miles into the race, and then ran out of gas.  Our coach said, "Alston is only fifty-one years old, and he is still learning."  This led to a comment: "The problem is that he is NOT learning!"  It is of course hard for someone who runs a 54 second quarter to run a 6 minute mile to start a race (ask world indoor mile record holder Eammon Coghlan  how he felt when he ran the New York City Marathon in 2:25 (5:30 min/mile pace)).
• Alayne Adams, Ph.D., has ascertained the following facts:  Given the fact that there are two northern pumphouses close to each other, any counter-clockwise set that ends at the 'northern pumphouse' shall terminate at the first pumphouse and any set that begins at the 'northern pumphouse' shall commence at the second pumphouse; in addition, for any set that is based upon counting lampposts, even those lampposts whose light bulbs are malfunctioning at the time shall be duly counted.  This is the law of the land as well as the will of the people.  P.S.  Don't worry about what Fritz Mueller has to say on this subject, because he had no sense of beginning or end of any set within a workout.  Besides, he is retired (unless, of course, he changes his mind).
• The last of the 10 lamppost picks should end about four lampposts before the West 86th entrance.  However, we observed that Margaret Schotte and John Megaw ran together way past West 86th Street before they finished their set.  This is somewhat perplexing because neither intelligence (you know, Margaret is a Harvard graduate) nor cold (you know, Margaret is from Canada) should have been a factor.
• Next Thursday is Thanksgiving Day.  You can come to the workout at the usual time.  We would be really interested in hearing from you about how many turkeys besides yourself was there ...  P.S.  We'll see you at the 60K race too ... NOT!
• Speaking of turkeys, Toby Tanser finished second at the Turkey Classic on Sunday.  This meant he won the advertised turkey prize, which turned out to take the form of a $10 gift certificate for the Food Emporium.  Now he has to decide whether he wants one turkey leg or one turkey breast ...

(Workout of 11/16/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Four repeats of the lower loop --- the first one at marathon warm-up pace, the next two faster at between half marathon to 10K pace, and the last one back to the pace of the first loop.  The total distance is 4 x 1.7 miles = 6.8 miles.  

FIELD NOTES:

• Open salvo goes from James Siegel to our Complaints Department: "Do you think that maybe there are not enough mentions of Audrey Kingsley on the Tuesday workout?"  Okay, okay, okay, to shield her from media over-exposure, her name will not be mentioned in the rest of the workout description for this day.
• This time of year is just after the big marathon and right before Thanksgiving, so the attendance has been somewhat lackadaisical.  Obviously, it did not help to have a dismal grayish day with drizzle coming down at the end of the workout again.  The attendance count was twenty-nine people.  This count includes Chris Salibello on a bicycle.  It includes Rob Zand, now up to six miles of running so far this week after the marathon.  We can also add James Siegel, who ran two 14-minute-miles yesterday and was thoroughly worn out.  It also includes Bola Awofeso, who said, "I am not running.  I am just practicing walking because I am going to walk the Honolulu Marathon in December.  It is harder than you think."  Following the advice of a female marathoner on our team, we did not include a passerby who stopped by for one moment before heading into the bushes.
• The coach received the cross-country race results from the past Sunday.  He said, "I have to congratulate Stacy Creamer for her second-place finish in the masters race.  My coach always told me not to worry about my time in a cross-country race, because personal bests are unlikely to occur.  Rather, it is your place of finish that counts.  So in cross-country races, you either finish first, second or last.  Stacy finished second."  Ahem ... that means our other twenty finishers in that race all finished last ... ?
• Among the finishers in the cross-country race was Kevin Arlyck, back after a long hiatus.  How do you disappear for what seemed like years and come back to run 18:11 at Van Cortlandt in your first race?  His explanation: "It was an accident."  Excuse us?  What was that, again?  Being away for a long time means (1) you don't know a lot of the new people and conversely (2) the new people don't know who you are.  With the Central Park Track Club, this is much less of an issue because we have a website that documents everything that everyone ever does.  However, you are warned that the Kevin Arlyck that you will find in the photo archives looks quite different from the person today --- specifically, the difference is the absence of a vast amount of facial hair ... 
• While some of the people stood at the 72nd Street after the workout, they saw our husband-and-wife teammates pass by and head up north for their own late workout.  Why is it that the near universal cheering call was, "Put the hurt on him!"?  Are we such sexist pigs?  By the way, there was some ambivalence as to whether it was a good or bad thing not to have the wife runner at our workout today --- it was bad because she is such a good person to run with and it was good because she is such a good runner who strikes terror when she pushes the pace (and, as Lauren Eckhart remarks, "She is getting faster every workout!").
• We have the National Cross Country Championships in Holmdel this weekend.  Our entrants will include Tom Hartshorne, Sid Howard, Alan Ruben, Alston Brown, Victor Osayi, Stuart Calderwood, Stacy Creamer, ...  While today we were commenting on the versatility of Alston Brown, who excels from 60m to the marathon, a female marathoner on our team said, "I think I am going to train for a 800m race."  While she might have hoped to get some strong objections, that did not occur.  You see, we think marathoners can step down to run 800m but we don't always think 800m/1500m runners (especially those with European accents) should step up to marathons.
• Margaret Schotte said, "They cashed my check for the Armory.  So I must be in!  That is why I am saving my legs today."  And the official starting day for the Armory is the first Tuesday in December ...
• There will be no workout on Thanksgiving Thursday.  Listen carefully --- that means you are supposed to be doing something else other than running.  If you don't know what to do, then you are in worse condition that we thought ...

(Workout of 11/14/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• We do a 1200m warmup through the 72nd Street transverse and north to Cleopatra's needle.  We run 3 times (2 lampposts quick, 2 lampposts recovery) to warm up our speed muscles and regroup at E90th Street.  The core of the workout consisted of 3 repeats of (600m from E90th to E97th, jog 2 lampposts north, turn around and jog 2 lampposts south, 1000m southbound from E97th to E86th, turnaround and jog to E90th).  Run back to the start to finish.

FIELD NOTES:

• Although our November Tuesday workouts are designed around the Central Park Reservoir, it was impossible to do so tonight because of the puddles from the rain that fell all day.  So our small crew of 21 people ran up and down East Drive instead.  Rain, rain , go away ...
• Audrey Kingsley told us the following piece of news: "I have something to tell you off the record.  Unfortunately, I can't remember what it is."  Oh, well, whatever it is, you'll never find out ...
• The coach would like to remind people that there is only one more scoring race left in the year --- the Joe Kleinerman 10K.  Are you listening, Alayne Adams?
• When December comes, we will be moving to the indoor track at the Armory.  If you have not signed up yet, you will have to pay an additional late fee of $25.  How do we know that?  Because Tyronne Culpepper said, "Because I have not signed yet, I went to the website and looked it up.  That was what it says."  Good, someone is paying attention, even if it is a bit late ...  Oh, and you better make sure that you have a photo for your ID --- you can always print a copy of one of your photos on the website, since there must be one of you among the thousands of photos on this website.
• For those people who have not run on the indoor track before, this will be a new and interesting experience.  Are you listening, Lauren Eckhart?
• Audrey Kingsley said, "I am so happy to see Kevin Arlyck running so well in the cross country race on Sunday.  I have booked him for the Twenty Miler Relay and the New York City Marathon next year."  Come again?  We can understand that they might want to run the 2x10 mile relay like they did the year before, but the New York City Marathon?  She explained, "Two years ago, he passed me inside the park.  If I did not have a stitch at that moment, I would have gone right with him and we would both have gone sub-3 hours.  So we will be looking for redemption."
• About the long list of people who ran the marathon and then raced again in the cross country on Sunday, coach Tony Ruiz said, "The problem with these people is that they see Alan Ruben doing it and think that they can do that too.  Unfortunately, Alan is a real exception."  Alan Ruben was legendary for setting a 2:29PR in a Boston Marathon and then coming back six five days later to win a Twosome 10K in Central Park, leaving us with this comment "Don't try it in your own home."
• Actually, on this Sunday, we have the National Masters Cross Country 5K Championships in Holmdel, New Jersey.  So all our able-bodied elder statesmen will be out there.
• We don't know how  many times the coach has to repeat this, but you should always stay to the inside lanes because you never know what those motorists and cyclists might do.  And you definitely don't want to count on their intelligence or kindheartedness.  On this particular night, we saw Audrey Kingsley being pushed around several times by a cyclist riding next to her.  In this case, though, we can't entirely blame the guy on wheels as our Audrey seemed to have been affecting a faux French accent ...

(Workout of 11/9/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Long warmup from the Daniel Webster statue north to West 102nd Street.  The core of the workout is two clockwise loops of the northern hills, with the second one being about 10-15 seconds faster.  Run back at a brisk pace back to the statue.  The total distance of this tempo run is 6.2 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Year-low road workout attendance of 21 persons, including three on bikes and one in street clothes.  Two contributing factors --- this is the week after the New York City Marathon.  More importantly, anyone who was watching television when they got home would have seen the doppler radar pictures of the shower line arriving at western New Jersey at 5pm, reaching Staten Island at 6pm, and hitting Central Park by 7pm.  But this rain event was only a nice drizzle, and nothing compared to that memorable deluge in the summer (when the workout began at the record early time of 6:58pm).
• With more than 60 finishers in the marathon, we would hope that they take some time off to rest.  Of course, that was just hope against hope.  For one, we would expect to see Audrey Kingsley (and indeed we would have been quite disappointed not to see her), who promises that she won't run the workout although we suspect that she had already done her running before getting here.  In addition, we also saw James Siegel who said, "I know I ought to rest, but I am not the type to stay home.  Besides, I have a cold so I have to run."  It's called folk medicine (and not, as you might want to believe, because someone had to let the dogs out).  
• Roger Liberman was in street clothes, saying "I know I am not running tonight.  I am just going to have a good meal."  Well, we don't see any food being served at the Daniel Webster statue in the rain.
• Amy Sheeran introduced herself as being new to the city.  Actually, given this city and especially given this club, it is more likely for someone to be an out-of-towner than not.  We are a multi-cultural, multinational club in which newcomers are welcomed.  For example, of the two people she was talking to at that particular moment, one was Roger Liberman who came from Belgium and the other person used to live in Australia before coming here. 
• The only special announcement was made by Audrey Kingsley (perhaps that was the only reason that she came down here?) --- Stacy Creamer won the New York City Marathon All-Comers Race (2.62 miles) in Central Park on marathon morning.  That is the 5th road race victory by master runner Stacy Creamer and the 36th road race victory by a member of the Central Park Track Club this year.
• The issue as to whether our 2000 New York Marathon women's team is our fastest ever is unresolved, since the legendary Yvonne Rosen-Laurie Madson-Wendy Scher team may have been quite close.  The research team (that is to say, someone who is old enough to have been around and kept copies of the newsletters) is actively scouring through the archives.
• As for the men, we note that our fastest team ever was the 1981 New York Marathon team of George Wisniewski, Mike Anderson and Fritz Mueller who averaged 2:24.

(REPORT ON 11/7/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Three counterclockwise loops around the reservoir.  
  Loop 1:  1200m pick up from the southern pumphouse to the northern pumphouse.  
  Loop 2:  1000m pickup from West 86th Street entrance to East 90th Street, and then 800m pickup from northern pumphouse to West 86th Street entrance.  
  Loop 3:  three lampposts on, three lampposts off, for strength, not speed.
  Total distance is 6.4 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Two days after the New York City Marathon bagged 20 people on the first Tuesday workout of November in Central Park.  Someone commented, "Why are there more marathoners here tonight than non-marathoners?"  Observed at the scene were Toby Tanser ("I haven't been here for a while and I see this group has really shrunk in size"), Audrey Kingsley  ("I am really not going to run hard today ... really ..." before charging into the lead on the way up to the reservoir), Jerome O'Shaughnessy ("I am really not going to run  today because I am in street clothes" and "All I want to do is eat and sleep"), Stuart Calderwood ("I am really not going to run today because I am perched on my bike"), Olivier Baillet ("I am really not going to run today.  Not only am I perched on my bike, but I have my bike shoes on")  ...
• Toby Tanser pointed out that it was an momentous occasion today --- to wit, Graeme Reid has just turned 40 to join the rank of the masters.  Happy birthday, Graeme!  Now, are you going to get that upgrade demanded by your fellow runners?
• Here is one team record --- it is believed that Toby Tanser's 31st overall place is the highest in the history of the Central Park Track Club.  While it was true that the late Sheldon Karlin won the second New York City Marathon when it was still confined to four loops inside Central Park, he was still a college student at the time and not a member of our club yet.  However, Toby's time of 2:26:27 is not the fastest time by a Central Park Track Club runner.  For one, the current president John Kenney said, "When I ran 2:25, my placing was actually lower ..."  Yeah, yeah, ... whatever ...
• It is also believed that the combined scoring time of the women's team (Shelley Farmer 2:54:31, Margaret Angell 3:00:16, Audrey Kingsley 3:03:44) of 8:58:31 is our fastest time ever.  The previous best known to us was the 1993 team of Rae Baymiller 2:53:53, Erica Merrill 3:04:06 and Laurie Sawyer Jones 3:05:15.  By the way, the 1993 team won the open women's team title, but the 2000 team was second.
• The day after the marathon was obviously the occasion for many things to talk about.  However, our self-appointed timekeeper says that we were still five minutes short of the record (setting out at 732pm).
• Kevin Arlyck said, "I wasn't paying attention to the workout description.  So you can write whatever you want, and I won't nitpick."  All this means is that we got a single day's reprieve.  This is going to be a long year ...

(Workout of 11/2/2000)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Three days before the New York City Marathon, this is a simple workout consisting of three loops around the reservoir.  On the first loop, just run at half-marathon pace.  On the second loop, alternate between two lampposts fast and two easy.  On the third loop, alternate between one lamppost fast and one lamppost easy.  Total distance is 6.6 miles.

FIELD NOTES:

• Three days before the New York City Marathon.  If you are running that race and you had any smarts, you would have stayed home tonight.  The coach advice is, "You have been probably average fifty to sixty miles per week coming to this point.  For this week, you should bring your miles down to twenty to thirty mile."  Dave Howard asked, "Does that include the marathon itself or not?"  Good question ...
• Sid Howard said, "These marathoners are not supposed to be racing at a workout just three days before the real race.  And that person who wore an Arthur Anderson shirt was running too fast tonight!"
• James Siegel gave us this status report, "Nothing went wrong.  I was able to pick up my number without any hassles."  Well, James, just remember that all your previous problems had to do with what happened AFTER THE RACE!  We'll have to see what happens after the marathon.
• Overhead at the workout:
  Q: "Are you running the marathon on Monday?"
  A: "I am running the marathon but I sure hope that I am not still running on Monday ..."
• If you are a marathoner, the worst part about showing up here tonight is the contradictory advice that you can get from real experts and self-appointed experts.  From the master expert himself, Fritz Mueller (seven marathons at an average time of 2:24 in the 10 months between April 1978 and February 1979) said, "Start fast, and hang on."  Unfortunately, we suspect that Fritz has really no idea about what he is saying since he runs on a single gear --- fast!  From the coach Tony Ruiz, "Hold back on the first 10 miles because you can easily make it up in the next 10 miles.  That is so much better than going out too fast in the first 10 miles and crashing."  From non-marathoner Roland Soong, "Start slow and you will finish slow" and "Don't go high-fiving spectators!  I have seen Kevin Arlyck lose a sub-3:00 marathon for just that reason."
• Desperately looking for a marathon tip tonight was Michele Tagliati, "Where are our web photographers going to be stationed?"  Sorry, we can't tell anyone that beyond that their positions have been carefully scouted and planned out.  So everyone will have to look good all the way ... 

(REPORT ON 10/31/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Oops, your regular website reporter was tied up in a business meeting and missed the workout.  He had volunteered to make up some stories, but we have respectfully turned him down.
• This was the last outdoor track workout for the distance runners.  During the month of November, they will meet on Tuesday and Thursday in Central Park, 7pm by the Daniel Webster statue.  They will move indoors from December on.
• Since we were in wrong age bracket, we were completely unaware that this was Halloween Day.  If only we knew, we would have published something similar to what John Kenney wrote: "Halloween is a very special evening here in NYC.  Unfortunately, from time to time, the danger and fright can be very real. Several years ago, one of our top Marathoners (2:27) was assaulted in Central Park on Halloween, and celebrated the evening in the Mt. Sinai Hospital Emergency Room.  I would strongly encourage all of our runners to forgo our workout on the East RiverTrack this evening and instead enjoy the evening's festivities.  If you must run, I would strongly suggest you run early and excercise the utmost discretion."
• The next workout in two days' time (Thursday) will be the last workout before the marathon.  After the race, you are invited to join coach Tony Ruiz at the Dublin House pub located on West 79th Street just east of Broadway.

FROM Isaya Okwiya:

• Actually, there was a workout on Tuesday.
• About 14 people showed up, including Tony who had Sid Howard and Kiet Vo to assist in timing. The sprinters, mid distance and long distance runners did the same workout ( 3x1mile with 3 minutes rest ). Victor Osayi and JR-Mojica were the sole marathoners present and did a milder workout.
• Craig "The Body" Plummer showed up at the end of the workout to walk the rest of us (in safety) home. 
• It was a pleasant and surprisingly quiet evening at the east river track.
• No incidents to report.

At the end of the 2000 outdoor track season, we keep the list of timers who volunteered their valuable time during the year so that the rest of us can know how fast (or how slow) we were running.

(REPORT ON 10/26/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Ten days before the marathon, we get the traditional nine miler --- first three miles up north through the northern hills ending at the 102nd Street marathon entrance into the park at marathon pace; next three miles completing the six mile loop at 15 seconds per mile faster; last three miles back at marathon pace, heading north, taking the 102nd Street transverse and heading south to finish just before before the steps leading up to the southern pump house behind the Metropolitan Museum.

FIELD NOTES:

• Nice warm night for October.  Fifty-three people counted at the start of the workout, including non-runner Aubin Sullivan and cyclist Bola Awofeso, but not counting Mel Washington and Fasil Yilma both of whom were seen running in the wrong direction.
• As a workout, the nine mile distance today is the longest that we have done this year.  Because of the pacing instructions, the groups all started out like rockets.  Or, as your coach would insist, was it because everyone wanted to finish the workout as quickly as possible in order to catch the "final" game of the World Series?
• In describing this long workout, the coach added these modifications, "If you have just ran good half marathons, like Margaret Angell and Stephanie Gould, you can afford to run easy tonight."  Then someone reminded the coach, "Shelley Farmer ran a great half too!"  Then someone else said, "Audrey Kingsley too!"  Okay ... okay ... so let's all run easy tonight ... ?  Okay?  None of you are interested in that baseball game, right ... ?
• The southwest corner of the workout assembly area is evidently the triathlete's corner, as we observe the preponderance of very wide shoulders (Ross Galitsky, Ramon Bermo, John Megaw, Josh Friedman.  The last named said, "I'm relatively skinny and I don't want to be mentioned on the website."  Relative to whom, that is the question.  And getting mentioned on the website is completely independent of what you may or may not have done.
• As the groups went out, Kiet Vo's running partners were given this request, "Please remember his splits because we need them for his personal statistics corner.  But rather than posing the burden on his fellow runners, Kiet Vo reported himself in: "I only did 6 out of the 9 miles tonight but still suffered greatly thanks to the combined efforts of Shelley Farmer , Michele Tagliati, and James Siegel: 19:34 for first 3 miles, 18:46 for second 3 miles."  A simple calculation shows that this makes 38:20 for six miles (or 39:40 for a 10K, close to Shelley's PR!) --- we can't wait to see how fast Shelley will run the Joe Kleinerman 10K in December!
• As a final reminder, you must get your check and ID photo in for the indoor track season at the Armory (see details on our home page).  If you don't have a photo, remember that you can re-use the one in last year's ID.  Failing that, just remember that any photo will do --- Stacy Creamer used a photo of herself as the bridesmaid in a wedding party.  If even David Pullman has sent in his check today, then what are you waiting for!? 
• Next Thursday, after the workout which should be very light for marathoners, the coach Tony Ruiz will listen to confessions at the Dublin House pub, located on West 79th Street just east of Broadway.  Or, according to another version, you can come and listen to James Siegel recount the miracle comeback by the New York Mets ... NOT!
• Yes, we have a confirmation for the post-marathon party at the Parlor, between 2pm and 6pm.  You can check our front page announcement for the location.  The sight of the marathoners attempting to negotiate those steps down to the basement on their very sore quads is worth the price of admission (which is zero, by the way).  

(REPORT ON 10/24/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 3 x (200m, jog across the field)

• 1 mile, 400m recovery

• 8 x (400m, 200m recovery)

• 1000m, warm down

FIELD NOTES:

• Indian summer day --- dry, cool and still.  As good as it will ever get.  So how come only thirty-nine people were there?

• The timing of this workout was a little bit unusual.  It took a little longer for the coach to get on with the workout, because he had to gloat about the 2-0 Yankees' lead in the World Series.  He demanded to know, "Where is that die-hard Mets' fan James Siegel tonight?"  But after the workout, the place emptied quickly as people rushed home to catch game #3.  Good!  Nobody was singing "Who Let The Dogs Out" tonight!  P.S.  Let us not say that our workout reporter does not know anyone famous (other than Toby Tanser) --- one of his colleagues at his office was quoted on the front page of the New York Times for these words --- "Yankee fans are flat-out stupid!"

• The point about this workout is that you are absolutely not supposed to be sprinting in the 400m's.  For this reason, a 1000m was set up so that its looming prospect will force you to hold back.  The pace of the 400m's should be two to three seconds faster than your 5K pace (e.g. if you run 18:37 (6 min/mile) for a 5K, then you should run these 400m's at 88 to 90 seconds each).  It goes without say that nobody ever really listens.  But the absolute time is perhaps not as important as even pacing.  For this reason, we can report that that Audrey Kingsley looked ecstatic in being able to hit 90 seconds on the dot for every set even though she was running near the back of her pack.  It goes without say that the other paragon of even pacing was Alan Ruben.

• The Kiet Vo personal statistics corner: He ran his mile in 5:35, and then the last 1000m in 3:19.  Now that 1000m time of 3:19 projects to a 5,000m time of 16:15, which is slower than the 15:43 projected from his track workout two weeks ago.  As the outdoor track season nears the end, Kiet had this to say, "I'm glad that the Kiet Vo personal statistics corner will be going out of business momentarily, and not a moment too soon, since I don't intend to run indoors this year." 

• The person with the best seat in the house was John Megaw.  You will have to ask him yourself just what he was watching ...

• You know that the middle distance runners workout program calls for them to run the cross country race this weekend.  Well, we were wondering if our Columbia University cross-country hall-of-famer Devon Sargent will be making her cross-country debut for our club after three years.  She said, "Well, you know, funny you should ask but according to the workout description, this is only supposed to be a training run."

• We are still compiling a list of New York City Marathon participants as shown on our home page.  The current roll call includes: Toby Tanser (first time!), Rob Zand (first time!), Rick Shaver (#24 in a row), Peter Allen (#21 in a row), Casey Yamazaki (#13 in a row), Alan Ruben, (#14 in a row), Audrey Kingsley, Shelley Farmer, Stephanie Gould, James Siegel, Margaret Angell, Sarah Gross, John Gleason, Olivier Baillet, Michele Tagliati, Adam Riess, Stuart Calderwood, Kellie Quinones, Jay Borok, Ramon Bermo ("I'll be wrapped in a Spanish flag"), Craig ("Yes, I just set a PR at Twin Cities") Chilton, Colin Frew ("Injured calf but what the hell!"), Mette and Carsten Strandlod, Blair Boyer, Sandra Scibelli, Jerome O'Shaughnessy, Shula Sarner, Roger Liberman, J.R. Mojica, Charlie Stark, Jeff Wilson, ... For the past two years, we have a post-marathon party at The Parlor, but we do not have a confirmation as yet.  Stay tuned ...

(REPORT ON 10/19/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION

• Long warmup 1.7 mile run from the Daniel Webster statue to the 102nd Street cutoff.  The first pickup is a 1000m run through the cutoff and turning north to finish near the swimming pool.  Recover through the rest of the northern hill loop.  Next pickup is a 1200m from the east side of the 102nd Street cutoff to East 90th Street.  Recover for 400m to East 86th Street.  Last long pickup is a 1200m down to East 72nd Street.  Recover southwards for 10 lampposts and close off with some (4 lampposts fast, 2 lampposts jog) repeats.
   
  Revision by Eve Kaplan: "Ok, maybe YOU recovered from the swimming pool through the northern hill and 102 transverse last night, but the rest of us recovered from the swimming pool to 110th, and then did the second 1000 pickup from 110, up the northern hill, and back down to 102west..."  Okay, so your web reporter did not run the northern hill portion at all.  Instead, he just stopped at East 102nd, waited, watched that one-man French terrorist gang charge right down the transverse and prayed that there would not be another collision, and was then ordered to (try to) run with Audrey Kingsley when the groups came around ...

FIELD NOTES:

(REPORT ON 10/17/2000 WORKOUT)

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Marathoners' Workout
  2 miles, 800m recovery
  1.5 miles, 600m recovery
  1 mile, 400m recovery
  800m

• Non-Marathoners' Workout
  1 mile, 800m recovery
  2 x (800m, 400m recovery)
  4 x (400m, 200m recovery)

FIELD NOTES:

• Cold, windy, drizzling day.  Thirty-seven people at the start.  During the workout, the drizzle increased in intensity for a few minutes, but it was all over after the workout.  The track was pitch dark at this time of year, but the floodlights made it possible to run a good workout (in spite of the sporadic blackout in the northeastern corner).

• Our substitute coach today was Stuart Calderwood.  This workout was split into two sub-divisions, in view of the different needs vis-à-vis the upcoming marathon.  For the marathoners, the first two miles should be done at half-marathon pace (note: this means the average pace for your half marathon, not the first two miles that you run in a half marathon --- the distinction can be significant for certain individuals).

• The big race result this weekend was the Staten Island Half Marathon.  The inevitable Toby Tanser won that race, when he was so sick with the flu that he could not run even one lap of the reservoir just the day before.  This leaves just two more scoring races left in the year (the New York City Marathon and the Joe Kleinerman 10K).  From today's workout, we think that we should have a very interesting open women's marathon team of Margaret Angell, Shelley Farmer and Stephanie Gould based upon the way they ran together today, and all three have ran controlled 1:27 half marathons within the past 2 weeks.

• Our guest timer of the day was a friend of Stuart Calderwood and Stacy Creamer.  Joe had come up to New York City today to represent his law school and afterwards found himself standing in the rain trying to read a stopwatch in the darkness and calling out times to people that he doesn't recognize.  Yes, things could have been better if (1) it was brighter (2) people wore color-coded uniforms (3) it didn't rain (4) he had an umbrella (5) he wore white socks (6) people didn't sprint crosstown to accumulate mileage ...  But he did have an interesting dinner.

• Kiet Vo's personal statistics corner (note: this is a continuing feature):  First mile in 5:35 but the last 400m in 70 seconds. 

• Stacy Creamer comments on international rivalry within the club: "I think that the Canadian contingent on this team may be giving the French contingent a serious challenge on this team."  Who are the Canadians?  Craig Chilton, Alayne Adams, Shelley Farmer, Lauren Eckhart, Margaret Schotte,  ...  Will the tricolors stand up and be counted?

• HAT SNATCHER ALERT:  We warn team members to look out for people who dash out to snatch your hat as you run crosstown to go home after the workout ...

10/12/00

The website reporter was in London on this day.  In the absence of a volunteered report, you get a picture of the Parliament.

10/10/00

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• 8 x 600m with 200m recoveries; 10 x 600m for those training for a marathon who won't be running the Staten Island Half this weekend. The first four are to be run at 4-mile race-pace, the last four (or, presumably, six) are to be run at 5K race-pace.

FIELD NOTES:

10/5/00

WORKOUT DESCRIPTION:

• Warm-up mile from the Daniel Webster statue up to West 88th Street.  The first pickup is a 1,000m to the west side of the 102nd Street cutoff.  Recovery is through the cutoff.  The second pickup is a 1,2000m south to East 90th Street.  Recovery is another 400m to East 86th Street near the steps up to the reservoir.  The third pickup is a long 1.5 mile out-and-back to East 72nd Street.  Recovery is northwards to East 90th Street.  The fourth pickup is 1,200m north to the east side of the 102nd Street cutoff.  Recover through the cutoff and south to West 97th Street.  Finish the workout with 3 x (3 lampposts fast, 2 lampposts easy).  Total distance of the workout is 7.5 miles (2 four-mile loops minus twice 72nd Street cutoff).

FIELD NOTES:

• Although it felt chilly when you first step out into the street tonight, it actually felt warm due to the high humidity from the impending rain.  During the workout, a very light drizzle came and it actually felt good.
• We are happy to report that the Editors are back.  What Editors?  Stuart Calderwood and Stacy Creamer!   They have been watching the Olympics in Sydney and otherwise posing as Dutch tourists (Hup , Holland!).  Also Stacy has a record for having the longest birthday since she got on the plane back in Sydney at 945pm and arrived in California at 6pm of the same day.  In any case, Stacy is now really 41 after having been so listed by the NYRRC this year due to a quirky computer bug.  (Technical question:  Will she be listed as 42 from now on?)
• A delayed race result is that Toby Tanser won the Terrace Bagels 10K in Prospect Park last Sunday.  This was his 15th road race win this year.
• Alan Ruben made it to the five o'clock news on WNBC (Channel 4) today.  More precisely, his wife Gordon Bakoulis was featured in a running segment and made these remarks.
• Some of you received your New York City Marathon race numbers today.  In theory, the number represents your seed position (lower numbers imply higher ranking), but #177 does not mean that there are 176 people faster than you since they may have set aside some number for last-minute elite entries and there will also be some no-shows.  Here is a quiz:  What was Shelley Farmer's best position ever?  We doubt that many of you know that ...
• This item was posted on our home page before the workout --- SPECIAL REQUEST:  From Rob Zand to Tony Ruiz: "I am pleased to announce that for this week my Thursday evening seminar has been cancelled.  This means that I will be able to join you for the very special, once-a-year, one-month-to-the-NYC-Marathon workout.  In honor of this occasion, I would like to request a real ball-buster of a workout. (I guess the ladies can have an ovary-buster). Anything with lots of hills would be great.  If people complain, you can even blame it on me. Besides, I see there is a soirée afterwards, so everyone can commiserate there.  Looking forward to a good one.  Rob."  Suffice to say that Rob was spotted charging out in front with his partner-in-crime Richie Borrero, even as the two 'old guys' stayed patiently behind them and waited for their imminent demise ...  Post-mortem analysis (from Rob Zand):  "There was no demise ..."

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